59 AB advice!!

[ratamahata]

Hey fellas i'm planning to rebuild a flathead v8 engine, After do a research I identify the engine by the 59 cast into the bellhousing and one head marked 59 A-B and the other marked 59A, the distributor in the front area is like a spyder, the two pump water in the front, this V8 was launching in 1945 thru 1948 called 59AB or 59A, another review for this was there's Ford and Mercury cars 46 thru 48 was equiped with this 100Hp engine.
I want to purchased the engine, but i don't know what advice take before buying, take a note the engine oil are in good conditions, no sign of water behind in the block, 2 spark plugs with a white color, sign for a stuck piston, the engine not rotate, only have a little play...

[Bruce Lancaster]

A-B head is later than A, slightly higher compression, distributor sounds 1942, same base as 1946-1948, different plastic.

Pull heads, scrutinize for cracks between valves and cylinder, look for cracks on oil pan surfaces on casting and at bottoms of water jackets if you fear it has been frozen with water in it. If no heavy rust sometimes they can be unstuck without too much trouble. 59 is best choice to power an early Ford.

[Ol' Ron]

Just remember this engine has Floating rod bearings. In all likely hood the crank, rods and bearings are reusable. Thus saving you much cash.

[Bruce Lancaster]

And if you need stuff...Joblot Automotive, Queens, New York...excellent mechanical support, and unlike some others they know where Argentina is and how to get stuff there.

[ratamahata]

Oh many thanks, for original parts or reproduction stock parts... don't worry!! a friend of mine was collected all stuff of early model a and later V8, but for performance parts or for upgrade parts i'll purchase in USA..
And then some clarification about the heads, one head don't belong to the same motor, may be was changed in a past time?

[Bruce Lancaster]

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I don't know date of changeover, but the 59 started production after WWII with 59A heads and at some early point changed over to 59AB heads with slightly smaller chambers for more compression. I suspect Ford did not know what octane would result when gasoline production switched from war needs to civilian market, and so started off with a conservative compression ratio.

[mercjoe]

What do you mean bearings are reusable Ol Ron ? really ?

Originally Posted by Ol' Ron

Just remember this engine has Floating rod bearings. In all likely hood the crank, rods and bearings are reusable. Thus saving you much cash.

[Conrad Rossi]

Bienvenido!

The Barners are great individuals with lots of knowledge, and provide unbiased advise that it will get you through your project.

I lived in Argentina for 26 years and my Dad collected and restored a couple of early V8 Fords. One of the thing that I learned that most of the engines that were around had a 'million' miles on them. Another, was that you did not needed to snow for engines to freeze in the evenings.

Feel free to PM (personal message) me if you need anything. Thank you.

--Conrad

[Ol' Ron]

The floating bearing is a a sturdy unit and very rarely fails in a stock engine. When tearing down the early 21a rods we saved the bearings for racing. When I rebuild the old stroker motors I like to use used bearings as the new one have a tendency to flake. All this is moot with the 8BA rods and incert bearings, also floaters need to be fit to the journals

[mercjoe]

How interesting Ron.

When we opened my 50 Mercury flathead it had floating bearings on it's 8BA connecting rods. We couldn't believe that. Probably an old engine "rebuild". I mean, the rods had to be machined or something in order to get those bearings. Who knows....

btw, do you have any preference between building a 59A/AB over a 8BA ? or viceversa ?

Originally Posted by Ol' Ron

The floating bearing is a a sturdy unit and very rarely fails in a stock engine. When tearing down the early 21a rods we saved the bearings for racing. When I rebuild the old stroker motors I like to use used bearings as the new one have a tendency to flake. All this is moot with the 8BA rods and incert bearings, also floaters need to be fit to the journals

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Originally Posted by mercjoe

How interesting Ron.

When we opened my 50 Mercury flathead it had floating bearings on it's 8BA connecting rods. We couldn't believe that. Probably an old engine "rebuild". I mean, the rods had to be machined or something in order to get those bearings. Who knows....

btw, do you have any preference between building a 59A/AB over a 8BA ? or viceversa ?

I haven't seen this but have heard that Canada,I beleive it was milatary times, thay had those 59 style engine that would take either floating or locking lip rod bearings. I heard if they had an engine down and needed rod bearings, what ever they could get they would use. I know the rod housing bore is differant so i don't know what they used for bearings. Walt

[G.M.]

We rebuilt a C-59-A engine 25 or more years ago for a Canadian guy who stayed in Florida in the winters. It was a Canadian 46,47 or 48 I don't remember, was maroon with black fenders. He drove it after the rebuild 6 or 8 years, passed away and the car was returned to Canada. Maybe someone knows of this car?? The engine had seperate insert bearings on each rod which were not the thin type but the same heavy thickness as full floating type. I tried to find them in Canada and all sources in the states. Even contacted Clevite and several other bearing manufactures. Several said they made them at one time but others never made them. They looked "down in the basement" and found the drawings but hadn't made them for years. I talked to the rebuilders at Carpenter and they had rebuilt engines like this one. They bought trailer loads of engines, engine parts and mechanical parts from the Canadian Government which were millitary parts all packed in cosmollene. They said they had drums of these rods but they never saw a bearing. They said they put in in Floridafull floating bearings serving 2 rods in and never had any problems. I was skeptical because of the locking grooves that hold the bearings in place. We did this and it was driven atleast 5,000 miles in Florida and never had a problem. We did notice this block and water pumps were made of a different cast iron. When cleaned they had the appearance of stainless steel. The original inserts looked like normal thin individual ones but had the thickness of a full floating bearing. G.M.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Thanks GM for that write up. I've heard about them but never saw them. I see what they did now, some co. made a thicker 8BA style bearing, or they could use a std. full floating besaring, what ever thay could find. Walt

[Graeme / New Zealand]

New Zealand assembled CKD cars ex Commonwealth FOMOCO Canada. My last v8 had a C69A block and if I recall correctly this had insert bearings like the 8Ba.

GB